Marcus Volke was a karate loving kid who grew up to live a double life

As a blue eyed, tousled blonde haired teen posing for selfies in his bedroom, no one could have predicted the murderous man that Marcus Volke would grow up to be.

In new photos from the male prostitute’s childhood, years before he would go on to cook the remains of his wife inside their Teneriffe apartment,in Brisbane’s inner-city, Volke wears a black hoody and pouts in front of a Star Wars poster.

He looks like any other young Australian boy.

But on Saturday night the 28-year-old was blamed for the horrific murder of his 27-year-old Indonesian wife Mayang Prasetyo after he fled the scene when police showed up at the couple’s home.

He was later found with his throat slashed and a knife in an industrial bin nearby.

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In another photo from his younger years while growing up outside Ballarat, in rural Victoria, about an hour north of Melbourne and studying at Ballarat High School, a spotty Volke stands in his kitchen wearing his black karate t-shirt.

In his blue-walled bedroom, pictures of men in karate poses and books line the shelves.

Rob Sinclair, a former friend of Mr Volke who used to practise karate with him, told the killer was an intelligent every-day guy who was a nutrition enthusiast.

‘Karate was his life passion for a very long time,’ he said.

‘He had a bit of a rough-and-tumble upbringing. There wasn’t much room for being too emotional. Marcus, to me, seemed to be … normal is the word I would use to describe him, to be honest, the kind of guy you’d meet on the street and have a conversation with.’

Volke studied karate at Shinkyokushinkai Australia in his home town of Haddon, about 20 km outside of Ballarat. 

Years later, in an online advertisement under the name Heath XL, Volke describes himself as a ‘young sexy Australian boy, very friendly and easy going’.

The ad went onto to say: ‘I can be your companion for an hour or as long as u want, for a dinner, a hot session, holidays or more’.

Volke had began living a double life, while telling friends and family he worked as a chef on cruise ships.

Interior designer Alex Devantier, who knew the couple well, told Daily Mail Australia Volke had never worked as a chef but used it as a cover story to avoid telling his family and close friends the truth about his life as Heath the male prostitute.

He met his future wife Ms Prasetyo while working at the Pleasure Dome brothel in Melbourne for two and a half years, before they both left and went into private sex work in 2012.

‘They were leading double lives because of the lives they were leading,’ Mr Devantier said.

‘Marcus wouldn’t even tell his closest friends of the life he was leading.

‘They lied to their families, so their families didn’t realise what they were actually doing.’

Mr Devantier met Volke and Ms Prasetyo — who were married in Europe in August 2013 — four years ago in Melbourne and introduced them.

‘Mayang left the agency because she was so popular that all the other transsexuals hated her and that’s why she asked me to build her own website to get away from those who were jealous of her achievements,’ Mr Devantier said. 

‘They both went into private escorting. I actually helped Marcus register as a private escort in Melbourne and then with his advertising.’

Mr Devantier, from Townsville, said he was in shock over the tragedy.

‘I still don’t believe he [Volke] did it. I can’t believe he did it. If he did do it, sometimes you can’t judge it, you can’t pick it,’ Mr Devantier said.

‘They were a loving and beautiful couple, and never a bad word from either of them about each other.

‘I looked after Mayang’s escort website and I was in communication with her all the time.

‘There was never any hostility towards each other.’

On Thursday, a brothel owner who employed Ms Prasetyo described her as a ‘divine, beautiful, gentle’ person who suffered at the hands of her abusive ice addict husband. 

Ms Prasetyo and Volke were both employed as prostitutes at Ivan Gneil’s Pleasure Dome brothel until 2012 and the owner claimed the other female staff were scared of Volke after he brought a gun to work.

Mr Gneil told Daily Mail Australia he knew Ms Prasetyo for about five years, as he revealed how he heard Volke had become violent towards her. 

‘Marcus was just your average sort of boy. Other girls here said he had started to become violent. He was asked to leave here and the reason, I believe, was because he brought a gun in,’ Mr Gneil said.

The owner told how the managers at the brothel had expressed concerns that Volke had ‘become a bit aggressive towards them before he was asked to leave’.

‘He was known to be violent towards transsexuals when he was with them. Marcus was also definitely a drug user. He was on ice, we just don’t tolerate it here,’ Mr Gneil added.  

Mr Gneil employed Ms Prasetyo, originally from Indonesia, for about five years at the Melbourne brothel. She met Volke at the establishment and he worked there for around two and a half years before they both left to work privately in 2012. 

‘I’m truly shocked by the news, absolutely devastated. When you don’t see anyone for a while (in this industry) you just assume they’ve gone overseas, so it was horrific to think what Mayang went through.

‘I couldn’t imagine anyone killing someone and chopping them up but I guess I should have seen it coming,’ Mr Gneil said.

He last spoke to Ms Prasetyo on Facebook two months ago and said ‘she seemed absolutely fine’.

‘She was healthy and took a lot of pride in her appearance. It’s unfortunate when they [transsexuals] go and work illegally, they call it privately, they become removed from friends and it’s a downward spiral,’ he added.

Mr Gneil laughed off claims that the couple met on a cruise ship and said they met at the brothel, even though he didn’t know they were dating at the time.  

Ms Prasetyo finished working at the brothel the day after Volke left. 

Ms Prasetyo’s mother on Thursday revealed she forgives her daughter’s killer after it was revealed Volke was a male prostitute and covered up his secret life by telling close friends and family he was a chef.

Speaking through an interpreter, Nining Sukarni — the mother of Ms Prasetyo — said on Wednesday she had already forgiven her son-in-law. 

‘I have forgiven. I have no demands whatsoever or revengeful feeling. Because I love Marcus just like I love Maya,’ she told . 

Ms Sukarni said she had met Volke when the couple came to visit her at her Lampung home in rural Indonesia in 2013. 

‘They loved each other. We have already considered him as part of the family. I love him,’ she said

Ms Sukarni described Ms Prasetyo — who her mother refers to as Febri Andriansyah — as ‘cheerful, friendly and loud’ and a ‘good son’.

She said when they came to visit in August last year Volke had cooked with Ms Prasetyo and the visit passed without incident.

‘He was kind and loving, shy and reserved. In our eyes he was kind. I never suspected anything,’ Ms Surkarni said. 

But Kaisey Bloom — a long-term friend of the transgender escort — paints a very different picture of the couple’s life together, saying Volke was a bully and shamed his wife.

Ms Bloom told The Courier Mail Ms Prasetyo was abused by her husband — not just physically but mentally as well.

‘She told me he would get really nasty and would often bring up her past gender disclosure and use it against her,’ she said.  

Queensland detectives have appealed for friends and associates of the couple to come forward as police continue their investigation into the murder-suicide.

‘We would like to make an appeal for anyone who may have known the couple — either individually or together, to contact police,’ Detective Senior Sergeant Tom Armitt said. 

‘As part of our investigation, we would like to speak to either close friends or other associates of the pair — we would like to know the nature of their relationship with the couple, and gather information about how the couple interacted.

‘This information is important in order to present a background about the pair’s relationship and its dynamic to the Queensland Coroner.’